It's not public yet but, even though the series' first season has yet to premiere (they should be wrapping in a week or two), the end results have already prompted HBO (despite the high expense...about $50 million just for the Scorsese-directed opener) to renew it for second season!

The cable channel has picked up the series about Atlantic City in the early 20th century to premiere fall 2010, HBO confirms. The network has ordered 12 episodes, including the Martin Scorsese-directed pilot.

The series stars Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson, a Prohibition-era bootlegger and prominent figure in the Atlantic City of the early 1920s, someone who's described as "equal parts politician and gangster." Gretchen Mol, ("The Notorious Bettie Page") Kelly Macdonald ("No Country for Old Men"), Michael Pitt ("The Village"), Michael Kenneth Williams ("The Wire"), Michael Shannon ("Revolutionary Road") and Dabney Coleman also star.

Terence Winter, a writer and producer on "The Sopranos," created the show and will executive produce along with Scorsese, who has pledged to remain involved in the show and may direct another episode. Fellow "Sopranos" alum Tim Van Patten and "Entourage's" Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson are also exec producing.

Later this year, television viewers will find themselves wrapped up in another quintessential New Jersey drama on HBO involving organized crime, corruption, violence and bossism.

Only this time, the story won’t revolve around a fictional tormented mobster born under a bad sign.

The highly anticipated series “Boardwalk Empire” is inspired, instead, by the real-life reign of the flamboyant and fabulously corrupt political boss Enoch “Nucky” Johnson. Where the contemporary Tony Soprano operated in a clandestine underworld, this ’20s-era Atlantic City political boss brashly and shrewdly used his influence to run a government that worked openly to line his pockets and steamroll those who didn’t fall in line.

The idea for the new show comes from an unlikely source: a book written by a New Jersey judge and historian.

Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson’s “Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City” hit bookshelves in September 2002, after nearly 20 years of research and writing, and ended its long journey to the small screen at the production offices of HBO.

The nearly 300-page sweeping history of people doing bad things by the ocean starts in the mid-19th century and ends with legalized gaming coming to Atlantic City in the 1970s and early ’80s. But it was chapters five and six that interested the folks at HBO the most — chapters devoted to the colorful rise and fall of Nucky Johnson.

“My publisher and I keep saying this book’s got legs,” says the judge. “And we’re thrilled that it does.” Nelson Johnson’s book has served as a jumping-off point for some serious Hollywood heavyweights.

Martin Scorsese, who is producing the series, directed the pilot episode, his first major foray into television drama. And Terence Winter, producer and writer eccellente from “The Sopranos,” which ran for six seasons and scored 21 Emmys, is the writer.

I saw a 10-minute reel...salivation is appropriate. Since season one covers the year 1920, season two will probably cover 1921. If the show holds up, it could go right through 1929! (Nine year run? Not written in stone!)

Remember THE UNTOUCHABLES tv series with William Forsythe? BOARDWALK will be the show that we wished that one could have been. By the way, tentative plans (IF the show runs as long as SOPRANOS, for example) is for each season to take palce during a subsequent year. First season, 1920. Second, 1921...and so on.

Remember THE UNTOUCHABLES tv series with William Forsythe? BOARDWALK will be the show that we wished that one could have been. By the way, tentative plans (IF the show runs as long as SOPRANOS, for example) is for each season to take palce during a subsequent year. First season, 1920. Second, 1921...and so on.

Nah, I remember the Untouchables series with Robert Stack. I am hoping that Boardwalk is up to Sopranos standards and I think it will be, if not more...

Nah, I remember the Untouchables series with Robert Stack. I am hoping that Boardwalk is up to Sopranos standards and I think it will be, if not more...

I'd completely forgotten about the second UNTOUCHABLES TV series!! I remember Forsythe made a good Al Capone. Anyway, B.E. is not up to Sopranos standards...it surpasses them easily. You'll see. I always thought SOPRANOS was overrated anyway...especially when it concentrated on the domestic issues, such as the kids' problems. Although I had cancelled the movie-altering HBO a while back, I'm back for the run of BOARDWALK.

The pilot cost $50 million!?! The Lost pilot cost $12 million, that might be the previous record.

Of course, LOSt was hardly feature-film quality and B.E. is! And considering all that was required, from the accurate clothing, the cars, the extras...not to mention building the boardwalk itself. The attention to detail on this show covers even the smallest things that most won't ever notice or see. For example, even the matchboxes are accurate to the period! Given today's economics, the $50 million is surprisingly low considering what they've put on the screen.

The highly anticipated series “Boardwalk Empire” is inspired, instead, by the real-life reign of the flamboyant and fabulously corrupt political boss Enoch “Nucky” Johnson. Where the contemporary Tony Soprano operated in a clandestine underworld, this ’20s-era Atlantic City political boss brashly and shrewdly used his influence to run a government that worked openly to line his pockets and steamroll those who didn’t fall in line.

Of course, LOSt was hardly feature-film quality and B.E. is! And considering all that was required, from the accurate clothing, the cars, the extras...not to mention building the boardwalk itself. The attention to detail on this show covers even the smallest things that most won't ever notice or see. For example, even the matchboxes are accurate to the period! Given today's economics, the $50 million is surprisingly low considering what they've put on the screen.

I think much of the boardwalk is CGI, I was reading an article in EW in which they said they wer enot able to get the entire boarwalk built to look within that period so they had the CGI team build it for them. Regardless, many of HBO's top shows have high per episode cost (Carnivale was between 1-2 Million if I remember reading correctly, so $50 Million today wouldnt surprise me.

Deadwood was in the same timeline as Carnivale (if anyone remembers that). Both of those shows never had a proper ending. Back then HBO was killing shows left and right....

Yup, Carnivale was another one. This was during the Chris Albrecht era at HBO, and frankly, I thought he was a terrible network executive, not to mention having several character flaws. Albrecht is now at Starz.

Yup, Carnivale was another one. This was during the Chris Albrecht era at HBO, and frankly, I thought he was a terrible network executive, not to mention having several character flaws. Albrecht is now at Starz.

Where he is stomping all over the channel, even instituting HBO's stupid policy of cropping widescreen movies. As such, I dropped Starz. He also cancelled the entertaining PARTY DOWN series after 2 seasons (same as DEADWOOD, ROME, and CARNIVALE). One can only pray he gets canned again soon.

This looks so good that HBO is going to have to bring Albrecht back and have him work overtime to come up with some way to screw it up and cancel it! ha ha
Love the look of it, love the setting of the story. Can't help but wonder how well Ian Mcshane would have fit into this. All in all though Steve Buschemi is great, looks like HBO has it's first buzz worthy show in a long, long time.

Think of what a small portion of the 50mil could have done to finish off Deadwood properly, a show that already had all it's sets built.

Don't remind me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keenan

Yup, Carnivale was another one. This was during the Chris Albrecht era at HBO, and frankly, I thought he was a terrible network executive, not to mention having several character flaws. Albrecht is now at Starz.

Albrecht always gets a ton of ink in the entertainment press about how he brought all these great shows to HBO and is now doing the same at Starz. His star appears to be rising. But he somehow never manages to get credit for the great shows he killed off prematurely and the devoted fans of those shows he left hanging. Turnabout should be fair play, eh?

Kind of reminds me of how CEO's are praised for laying off a town's worth of workers because it causes a short term bump in the stock price.